The Paleo Diet for Athletes (32 page)

TABLE 11.2

Comparison of Animals’ Muscle Fatty Acid Concentrations (mg fatty acids/100 g sample)

SAT = total saturated fatty acids; MUFA = total monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA = total polyunsaturated fatty acids

Commercially Available Game Meat and Other Exotic Meats

In the United States, the commercial sale of hunted wild game is prohibited. So, unless you are a hunter, the only way to obtain game meat is to purchase meat that has been produced on game farms or ranches—but even that, except for buffalo, is difficult to find. (One of the largest mail-order suppliers of game meat that can be found in the United States is Game Sales International.) Generally, this meat is superior to feedlot products, but it may not be as lean or as healthful as wild game. It is not an uncommon practice to feed grain to elk and buffalo to fatten them before slaughter.

Exotic meats you may want to try include kangaroo, venison, elk, alligator, reindeer, pheasant, quail, Muscovy duck, goose, wild boar, ostrich, rattlesnake, emu, turtle, African springbok antelope, New Zealand Cervena deer, squab, wild turkey, caribou, bear, buffalo, rabbit, and goat.

Fish, Seafood, and Shellfish

We no longer live in a healthy, pristine, unpolluted environment; pesticides, heavy metals, chemicals, and other toxic compounds frequently make their way into our food chain. No one knows precisely how low-level exposure to these toxins affects health over the course of a lifetime. It is prudent to try to reduce our exposure to toxic compounds whenever possible, but it is virtually impossible to eliminate exposure to environmental toxins because they now permeate even such places as the Antarctic. Fish frequently contain high concentrations of mercury and pesticides. To minimize your risk of eating contaminated fish, avoid eating freshwater fish from lakes and rivers, particularly the Great Lakes
and other industrialized areas. Also avoid large, long-lived fish such as swordfish, tuna, and shark because they tend to concentrate mercury in their flesh.

Fish, seafood, and shellfish are a few of the most healthful animal foods you can consume and represent a foundation of the Paleo Diet for Athletes because they are enriched sources of the therapeutic, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids known as EPA and DHA. Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, and herring are particularly concentrated in both of these long-chain omega-3 fatty acids. Try to take in fish at least three times per week.

About 20 years ago, people with heart disease were advised to steer clear of shellfish, which was believed to have too much cholesterol. It’s true that shellfish is high in cholesterol—but the good news is that we don’t have to avoid it. It turns out that dietary cholesterol has a very small effect upon blood cholesterol when the food’s total saturated fat content is low.
Table 11.3
shows that all shellfish are quite low in both saturated and total fat, despite having relatively high cholesterol concentrations. We encourage you to eat as much shellfish as you enjoy.

TABLE 11.3

Cholesterol and Fat Content in Shellfish (100 g portions)

Here’s a list of fish and shellfish that are important components in any modern-day variety of the Stone Age diet:

FISH

Bass

Bluefish

Cod

Drum

Eel

Flatfish

Grouper

Haddock

Halibut

Herring

Mackerel

Monkfish

Mullet

Northern pike

Orange roughy

Perch

Red snapper

Rockfish

Salmon

Scrod

Shark

Striped bass

Sunfish

Tilapia

Trout

Tuna

Turbot

Walleye

Any commercially available fish

SHELLFISH

Abalone

Calamari (squid)

Crab

Crayfish

Lobster

Mussels

Octopus

Oysters

Scallops

Shrimp

Besides being rich sources of EPA and DHA, fish and seafood represent some of our best high-protein foods. The high protein content of the Paleo Diet for Athletes is central to many of its performance benefits. Protein helps you lose weight more rapidly by raising your metabolism
while concurrently curbing your appetite. Additionally, protein lowers your total blood cholesterol as it simultaneously increases the good HDL molecules that rid your body of excessive cholesterol. Protein also stabilizes blood sugar and reduces the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and certain cancers.

Healthful Oils, Nuts, and Seeds

Table 11.4
provides you with all the information you need to pick out the most healthful oils. Oils you use for cooking need to be stable and more resistant to the oxidizing effects of heat, whereas those you use in your salads don’t. Saturated fatty acids (SAT) are the most stable and heat resistant, followed by monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), then polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Your choice of cooking oils should be high in MUFA and relatively low in PUFA. For the price, olive oil is the best oil for cooking. All oils, regardless of their fatty-acid makeup, oxidize during cooking. Consequently, you should not fry at high or searing heats; instead, sauté at low to medium temperatures and cook for shorter periods.

The stability of oil is determined not only by its relative ratio of SAT to MUFA to PUFA but also by the type of PUFA. Omega-3 PUFA are more fragile than omega-6 PUFA because of the location and number of the double bonds in the fatty acid molecule. Consequently, flaxseed and walnut oils should not be used for cooking because of their high concentrations of total PUFA and omega-3 PUFA. However, both oils are good choices for dressing salads. Flaxseed oil is the richest vegetable source of omega-3 fatty acids. Pour it over steamed veggies or incorporate it into a marinade added to meat and seafood after cooking. Both strategies are great ways to get more omega-3 fatty acids into your diet.

Because of their high MUFA and low PUFA contents, olive, macadamia and avocado oils are good choices for cooking and add a wonderful flavor to any dish. However, macadamia and avocado oils are pricey and difficult to find. Notice that coconut oil also can be used for cooking because of its high SAT and low PUFA content. It is also a highly concentrated source of a fatty acid called lauric acid, which has therapeutic effects upon gut bacterial flora. Numerous studies of indigenous traditional Pacific Island societies prior to westernization verify that coconut consumption has no adverse effects upon cardiovascular disease.

The oils we recommend are flaxseed, walnut, avocado, macadamia, coconut, and olive. Although soybean and wheat germ oils appear on paper to have acceptable fatty acid balances, both are concentrated sources of antinutrients known as lectins. Wheat germ oil is the highest dietary source of the lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), and soybean oil contains soybean agglutinin (SBA). In animal models, both of those lectins have been shown to adversely influence gastrointestinal and immune function. Similarly, peanuts are not nuts but legumes. Peanut oil, just like soybean oil, is a concentrated source of the lectin peanut agglutinin (PNA).

TABLE 11.4

Fatty Acid Composition of Salad and Cooking Oils